Box making machine



July 3, 1962 A. ca. TURNER 3,041,943

Q BOX MAKING MACHINE Filed July 28, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/gj Inv nlor A Horn e 35 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 28, 1959 I nuerilor y M Attorney;

July 3, 1962 A. G. TURNER BOX MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 28, 1959 Inventor V Attorneys July 3, 1962 A. G. TURNER BOX MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 28, 1959 A. G. TURNER BOX MAKING MACHINE July 3, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 28, 1959 3,041,943 Patented July 3, 1962 3,041,943 BOX MAKING MACHINE Arthur George Turner, Norwich, England, assignor of one-half to F. W. Frost (Engineers) Limited, Norfolk, England, a British company Filed July 28, 1959, Ser. No. 830,002 15 Claims. (Cl. 93-41) This invention relates to machines for making boxes (Where hereafter reference is made to boxes it will be taken also to refer to box lids) of the kind wherein the sides and end pieces of the blanks from which the boxes are made, are secured together at the corners of the box by stays consisting of a length of stay material such as paper strip which is coated with adhesive on one side and is stuck to both the side and end pieces across a corner.

An object of this invention is to produce a box making machine of this kind which is of an uncomplicated design and simple operation.

According to the invention a machine for making boxes of the kind set forth comprises a corner stay applying station to and through which the box blanks and corner stay material are intermittenly fed, in which movement of a blank out of the said station after it has received its stays causes stay material to be drawn from a supply to the said station, the means for severing the stay material from the boxes being positioned so as to act on the stay material only after the blank has passed out of the said station.

Preferably each corner of the box is stayed at one station, a separate supply of stay material and a securing device being provided for each corner.

The box blank may be carried up through the machine by a piston on which it rests whilst the stay material is secured thereto. A second piston is preferably also provided, arranged to move up under the first piston within the turned down edges of the box blank so as to act as a support at the corners during the application of the stays.

The machine may use either gummed stay paper or heat sensitive paper i. e. paper covered on one side with a thermoplastic substance. In the latter case the stay paper securing means incorporates a heating element and preferably comprises a pair of spring biased pincher jaws, positioned to grip and hold together the side walls of a box blank at a corner of the box, the stay paper fed between the jaws so that it is positioned ready to be applied to the corner of the box and a heating element which acts on the stay paper to cause this to adhere to the box.

Due to the upward movement of the pistons carrying the box blank through the machine a box having either a plain bottom or lid, or one with what is known as a flanged top or bottom may be stayed. Flanged boxes have either their top or bottom surface protruding out from the side walls of the box around the edge thereof. Such flanged top boxes which are decorative in appearance are often used as chocolate boxes. When a flanged top box is stayed on a machine according to the invention the flange projects out from the top piston and does not interfere with the staying of the corners of the side walls which is carried out beneath the top piston.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagram illustrating the sequence of operations during the passage of a flanged box blank through the machine.

FIGURE 2 is an elevation of the machine with the side covers thereof removed.

FIGURE 3 is a view taken on the line III-III in FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the machine with the cutting off tensioning devices removed.

FIGURE 5 is a detailed side elevation of the blank feeding device. I

FIGURE 6 is a sketch of detail of the feeding device.

FIGURE 7 is a plan view corresponding to FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 8 is a detailed side view of a bender or breaker.

FIGURE 9 is a detailed plan view of the stay paper securing device.

FIGURE 10 is a detailed plan view of the cutting off device.

FIGURE 11 is a detailed view of a part of the stay paper supply mechanism.

In FIGURE 1 there is shown, in three positions, a piston 2 carrying a blank 4 for a flanged topped box.

In the first position at the bottom of the figure the side walls 6 of the blank are shown protruding out from the flanged top 8. In the middle position the side walls 6 have been bent down by a breaker, diagrammatically indicated at 10 and the securing devices 12, one for each corner, are about to move in to secure the corners with stay paper. In the'uppermost position the stayed box has been lifted clear of the machine and the stay paper has been cut ofi at the top of the securing device 12. The movement from the mid-position to the uppermost position before cutting off, is sufiicient to pull a new length of stay paper into each securing device 12.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, the machine comprises generally aframe including a base plate 14 and four uprights 16, the lower ends of which form feet to support the machine in an upright position.

The piston 2 is mounted for vertical movement within the frame and is capable of moving to a position above the frame, past four stay paper securing devices generally indicated at 12, one being located opposite each corner of a rectangular box and four cutting-0E devices generally indicated at 18. Stay paper 20 is fed to the securing device 12 from a roll 22 through a tensioning device 24.

A magazine for cardboard blanks which are to be formed into boxes is shown in FIGURES 5, 6 and 7. The magazine is secured to reinforcing plates 24 near the top of the uprights 16 (see FIGURE 2), and comprises a base plate 26 having two adjustable arms 28 secured thereto between which the cardboard blanks are stacked to lie across a bridge member 30 extending up from the base plate 26. The bridge member 30 is formed with a central groove in which runs a chain 32 passing around wheels 34 and 36, one at each end of the groove in the bridge piece. The chain 32 which is in the form of a closed loop is driven by a driving wheel 38 fast on an axle 42 which is driven through gear wheel 44 on one of its ends by the motor. The axle 42 is supported on the base plate 26 by bearings 46.

The chain 32 passes up through the bridge piece 23 vthrough a hole 48 at one end of the groove and is moved in an anti-clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 5 along the top of the bridge piece and down through a second hole 50 at the other end of the groove. One link of the chain has pivotally attached thereto a hook member 52 (see FIGURE 6), which is arranged to engage the lowermost cardboard blank of these stacked up between the arm members 28. The hook engages the right-hand end of the blank as seen in FIGURE 8 and moves it along the bridge member out from the arms 28.

At the inner end of the bridge member a wall 54 is provided spaced above the bridge by a space suificient to allow only a single blank to pass between the Wall and the bridge. Two rollers 56 are mounted inward of the wall 54 and are rotated from the driving axle 42 through a subsidiary drive (not shown) They are arranged to grip the edge of a blank which has been passed between the wall 54 and the bridge and to pu l the blank through and pass it on to a platform 58 located adjacent the surface 60 (see FIGURE 2) on to the top of piston 2 when this is in its lowermost position. The platform 58 is adjustably mounted on a pillar 62 so that the unit can be positioned according to the size of the blanks from which the box is to be made.

A blank breaker or bender 64 is located above the platform 58 and comprises a cylinder 66 (see FIGURE 8) in which a piston 70 carrying a breaker arm 72 is positioned to work. The piston 70 is slidable in the cylinder either to reduce the distance by which the arm 72 projects from the cylinder or to increase it depending upon whether compressed air is introduced through entrance tube 74 or 76 respectively. The arm 72 is formed at its outer end with a slot 78 to receive a blade.

Stay paper is supplied in rolls 22, one of which is mounted at each of the four corners of the machine. A bracket 80 is attached to the upper ends of the vertical supports 16 at each side of the machine (see FIGURE 4) and each carries arms 82 supporting the roll 22 of stay paper 20 which is coated on one side with a thermoplastic substance. Immediately above the roll on the bracket 80 is positioned the stay paper tensioning device 24 through which the stay paper from the roll 22 is led. The tensioning device 24 is shown in detail in FIGURE 11 and comprises a body 84 to which two arms 86 and 88 are pivotally mounted, the arm 86 at 90 on the arm 88 at 92. The inner end of arm 88 is provided with a roller 94 and is capable of moving down into a well 96 formed in the body 84. The outer end of the arm 88 also has a roller 98 mounted thereon about the pivot 92 together with a ratchet wheel 100 cooperating with a pawl 102. The roller 98 cooperates with a roller 104 mounted at the outer end of the arm 86. A further small roller 106 is mounted on the outer end of the body 84 to provide a feed-in roller to introduce the stay paper between the rollers 104 and 98.

Each bracket 80 includes an upwardly extending arm 108 on which is mounted firstly the stay paper securing device 12 and secondly the cutting 01f device 18.

Each stay paper securing device comprises (see FIG- URE 9) a cylinder 110 in which a piston 112 is arranged to move. The piston has pivotally attached to it an arm 114 which is itself pivotally attached at its other end to a second arm 116 which passes through a bearing block 117 and carries at its outer end a head generally indicated at 118. The operating head comprises two jaw members 120 pivoted together at 122 and biassed to the position shown in the FIGURE 9 by a spring 124. Each pincher jaw 120 has a small roller 126 extending down its length at its outer end so that the jaws can easily be forced over the corner of the box. A former block 128 is positioned between the jaws and this incorporates a heating unit. The stay paper 20 is shown in FIGURE 9 extending up between the jaws 120 and due to its slight bowing is retained in position and does not slip down. The piston 112 and hence the operating head 118 are moved relative to the bracket 108 by the introduction of compressed air through entrance tube 130 behind the piston 112.

Each cutting off device 18 is mounted above the stay paper on attachment device 12 and is supported by the bearing block 117. Each device comprises a base plate 132 attached to the block 117, and carrying a cylinder 134 in which are positioned two opposed pistons 136 and 138. An air entrance tube 140 is located between the two pistons when they are in their non-operative positions as shown in FIGURE 10.

The piston 136 has attached to it, at its outer end an arm 142, to which is pivotally attached at one end a link 144 which link etxends along the outside of the cylinder 134 and is attached at its other end to one end of a chain 146. The chain passes around a gear wheel 148 and attached at its other end to a spring 150 which 200 mounted on the frame of the machine.

acts to bias the linkage to the position shown in FIGURE 10. A cutter blade 152 is secured to the gear wheel 148 and on rotation of the gear wheel swings into the position shown in dot and dash lines in FIGURE 10. The piston 138 carries at its outer end a shaped block 154 having an outer edge which cooperates with the cutter blade 152.

The main piston 2 is carried on a rod 156 (see FIG- URE 2) which extends down through the centre of the machine and is formed at its lower end with a rack 158. The rack engages with a toothed driving wheel 160 carried on an axle 152, to which axle a second toothed wheel 164 is attached, the second wheel 164 engaging a rack 166. The axle 162 is fixed to a bracket 168 mounted on the base plate 14 but the rack 166 is movable with respect to the axle 162 and is carried by an arm 170 having its inner end formed as a piston 172 working in a cylinder 174 attached to the plate 14 by means of a bracket 176. 178 indicates a stop-member adjustably mounted in a bracket 180 so that the movement of the rack 164 and hence the movement of a rod 156 can be adjusted.

A second piston 182 is carried by a tube 184 surrounding the rod 156. The piston 182 is located below the main piston 2 and can move independently. thereof to take up position immediately below the piston 2 with the lug 186 engaged in recess 188 in the lower piston. The tube 184 is supported within a bearing tube 190 carried by two arms 192 attached to the upright 16. The lower portion of the tube 184 is formed with an external rack 194 engaging with a toothed driving wheel 196 pivotally mounted about pivot 198 to a bracket 200 The pivot 198 also has mounted thereon a second gear wheel 202 driven by a rack 204 which rack is attached by means of an arm 206 to a piston 208 working within a cylinder 2110 supported on the frame of the machine by bracket 212.

The wheel 196 has on one of its side faces two adjustable stops 214 which can be engaged by the operative end 216 of a cranked lever 218 pivtally mounted at 220 to a bracket 222 carried by the frame. The other end 224 of the cranked lever engages with a cam wheel 226 pivotally mounted to a main cam axle 228 supported by three bearings 230, each of which is attached to the frame of the machine.

The various movements of the machine are all operated by compressed air from a compressed air reservoir 232. The air being compressed by means of the pumping motor 40. The compressed air is admitted to the various parts of the machine through one of a series of valves 234 (see FIGURE 3) one valve corresponding to each device or operation. The valves 234 are opened and shut by movement of arms 236 which arms are operated by cams 238 carried on the main cam shaft 228. The main cam shaft is rotated through a flexible linkage 238 from a shaft 240 driven by the motor 40'.

The operation of the machine will now be described. With the motor running the chain 32 is moved along its path and the book 52 engages the edge of the bottom blank of those stacked up between the arms 28. The blank is moved along the bridge member 30 and its forward end is passed between the wall 54 and the bridge 30 until it is gripped between the rollers 56. The rollers move the card forward to the platform 58 and at the same time the hook member drops through the aperture 50 and continues in its path until it picks up the next blank and moves this forward. As the next blank is moved on to the platform 58 it pushes the first blank 011 on to the top of the upper piston 2 which is at the level 60 at the top of the frame as seen in FIGURE 2.

The piston 2 is then moved upwardly with the blank lying thereon and due to the rotation of the main cam shaft 228 the relevant valve is opened so that compressed air is admitted behind the piston 172 within the cylinder 174 so as to force the rod 170 out across the frame so that the rack 166 drives the shaft 162 with consequent rotation of the gear wheel 160. Gear wheel 160 engages with the rack 15% and the rod 156 to cause the piston 2 to move upwardly. The blank lying on the piston 2 has its end flaps extending downwardly but as the piston 2 is moved up the end flaps engage the under side of the arm 72 of the breaker or bender 64. This results in the end flaps being bent downwardly and at this point a further valve 234 is opened to admit air to the inlet 76 of the bender to force the piston 70 and arm 72 outwardly so that the end flaps are bent beneath the piston 2 until they form an angle of about 30 with the piston. This is necessary so that when the arm has been retracted the end flaps only bend back to a position where they are substantially vertical. The valve allowing air to enter at 76 now closes and a further valve opens to admit air through the port 74 to cause the piston 70 arid arm 72 to be retracted back to the cylinder 68 so that the arm 72 is withdrawn from contact with the box blank.

At this point the air flow to the cylinder 174 is cut 013? by operation of the relevant valve 2341 by one of the cams 238 and the piston 2 dwells whilst the lower piston 182 is raised. Air is then admitted to the cylinder 21d behind the piston 288 to cause this piston and hence the arm 26d and rack 234 to move to the right as seen in FIGURE 2. This movement of the rack causes the gear wheel 196 to be rotated to drive the tube 184- and hence the piston 182 upwardly. The upward movement continues until the piston 182 is positioned within the side and end flaps of the blank and lies beneath and in contact with the piston 2 with the lug 186 engaging in the recess 188.

At this point the cam 226 has reached a position whereby the cranked lever 218 is moved so that its end 2116 engages with a stop member 214 to prevent any further upward movement of the piston 182 so that the two pistons are correctly aligned.

In order that the two pistons move upwardly as a single unit the upper piston 2 is moved by the lower piston 182 and this is achieved by rotation of the gear wheel 196, the crank lever 2118 having firstly moved out of contact with the stop 214. The upward movement continues until the piston 2 is located near the top of the jaw members 120 of the stay paper securing device at the stay applying station when the cranked arm 218 is again moved in to engage a further stop member 214 so that the pistons dwell. Air is then admitted through port 130 in the securing device so that the piston 112 and hence the head 118 is moved to the right as seen in FIG- URE 2. The corner of the box forces open the jaws 120 against the bias of spring 124 and the jaws then hold the side and end pieces of the blank in the correct position for staying against piston 182. .Stay paper 2% is already positioned within the jaw members 12th of the device by reason of the movement of the previous box blank and the thermo-plastic coated surface of the paper lies against the corner of the blank. The edge of the corner being engaged in the V-shaped block 128 with the stay paper overlapping on end and side piece. The heat unit in block 128 then acts to cause the stay paper to be secured to the corner throughout the depth of the box so that it is stayed.

The pressure behind the piston 112 is now released so that the springs 25% cause the head 118 to be withdrawn from the corner of the box. This is achieved by springs 250.

Each corner of the box is provided with stays at the same time and at the same station by operation of a securing device as described above.

The pistons after the stay paper has been secured to the box, are again moved upwardly until the bottom edge of the box is positioned adjacent to the blade 152 of the cutting ofi device 18. The pistons are then caused once again to dwell. The movement of the bottom of the box from its position adjacent the bottom of the stay paper securing device to a position thereabove causes a new length of stay paper 20 to be pulled into the securing device 12 from the roll 22 through the tensioning device 24. Due to the slight bowing of the paper 20 as seen in FIGURE 9 it is gripped between the jaws and main tains its position ready to be secured to the next blank. This is the only means of feeding the stay paper to the securing device and is achieved solely by the upward movement of the pistons. It will be appreciated that a length of stay paper is fed to each device 12 without the use of any separate feed means.

When the box has reached its position adjacent the cutting 05 device '13 compressed air is allowed to flow from the cylinder 232 into port causing the pistons 136 and 138 to move outwardly in the cylinder 134. This outward movement of the pistons causes both the block 154 to move out to engage the corner of the box and also the blade 152 to be swung in an anti-clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 10 to cut the stay paper off just below the bottom edge of the box at each corner. The pressure within the cylinder is then released and the spring causes the blade to swing back into its non-operative position and the pistons to be again retracted into the cylinder.

The stay paper is then pulled back slightly into its exactly correct position within the jaws 120 by reason of the roller 94 of the stay paper tensioning device falling into the well 96, the movement being such that the top of the stay paper within the jaws will be aligned with the top of the next box blank to be secured.

The pistons rise slightly above the cutting off device and the box blank is removed. The pistons are then retracted to their original position ready to receive the next box blank whereafter the operation is repeated.

It will be appreciated that once the machine is operating with a supply of blanks, the blanks are stayed to form boxes automatically. It is necessary only to feed by hand the stay paper for the first blank.

Both boxes having either a flanged top or bottom or both top and bottom and ordinary boxes may be stayed by this machine. When a flanged top box is to be assembled the fiange lies on the top piston 2 and so above the stay paper securing device 12 when the jaws thereof move in to engage the corner of the 'box they will be beneath the top flange.

It will be realised that the machine is comparatively simple in constructions and due tothe use of compressed air is easy to operate and to maintain.

It it is desired to use gummed stay paper rather than paper coated with a thermoplastic substance, 21 wetting bath is provided near or forming part of each securing device.

I claim:

1. A box making machine for securing together the side and end flaps of box blanks at the corners of a box by a length of stay material comprising a body framework mounting means carried by the framework for holding a supply of stay material, feeding means for passing box blanks intermittently through the machine, a stay material applying station to which the box blanks are fed by said feeding means and to which stay material is fed by movement of a blank out from said station and cutting means severing the stay material from the box, said cutting means being positioned on the body framework adjacent the stay material applying station in the direction of feed of the box blank through the machine and being arranged to cut the stay material on each blank after the blank has passed out from said stay material applying station, and means for returning the cut end of the stay paper connected to the supply to the stay paper applying station.

2. A box making machine according to claim 1 in which a stay material applying station is provided for each corner of the box.

3. A box making machine according to claim '1 in which the feeding means for passing box blanks intermittently through the machine comprises a piston mounted for movement up through the machine framework.

4. A box making machine for securing together the side and end flaps of box blanks at the corners of a box by a length of stay paper comprising a body framework, mounting means carried by the framework for holding a supply of stay paper, feeding means for passing box blanks intermittently through the machine, a stay paper applying station to which the box blanks are fed by said feeding means and to which stay paper is fed by movement of a blank out from said station and cutting means severing the stay material from the box, said cutting means being positioned on the body framework adjacent the stay material applying station in the direction of feed of the box blank through the machine and being arranged to cut the stay paper on each blank after the blank has passed out from said stay paper applying station, means for returning the cut end of the stay paper to the stay paper applying station, and bending means mounted on the body framework and positioned to act on the box blanks before they reach the stay material applying station to bend the sides of the box blank down.

5. A box making machine according to claim 4 in which the feeding means comprises a piston mounted for movement up through the machine framework, the bender being arranged to bend down the side and end flaps of the box blank under the piston on which the box blank is carried.

6. A box making machine according to claim 4 in which a. stay material applying station is provided for each corner of the box.

7. A box making machine for securing together the side and end flaps of box blanks at the corners of a box by a length of stay material comprising a body framework, mounting mean carried by the framework for holding a supply of stay material, feeding means for passing box blanks intermittently through the machine, a stay material applying station to which the box blanks are fed by said feeding means and to which stay material is fed by movement of a blank out from said station, cutting means for severing the stay material from the box, and means for returning the cut end of the stay paper to the stay paper applying station, said cutting means being positioned on the body framework adjacent the stay material applying station in the direction of feed of the box blank through the machine and being arranged to act on the stay material after the blank has passed out from said stay material applying station, the said stay material securing station including an attachment device comprising two spring controlled pincher jaws and means to move said jaws towards one another as required so that the jaws can hold the walls of the box in the correct position whilst the stay material is applied thereto.

8. A box making machine according to claim 7 wherein a piston support is provided to carry the box blank up through the machine passing through the stay material securing station and the severing means for the stay material.

9. A box making machine according to claim 7 in which the attachment device includes a heating element.

10. A box making machine for securing together the side and end flaps of box blanks at the corners of a box by a length of stay paper comprising a body framework mounting means carried by the framework for holding a supply of stay paper, feeding means for passing box blanks intermittently through the machine, stay material applying station for each corner of the box to which the box blanks are fed by said feeding means and to which stay material is fed by movement of a blank out from said stations, cutting means severing the stay material from the box, a roller engaging the upper surface of the stay paper before the stay paper applying station and being pivotally mounted on the machine frame so that when the stay paper is cut the roller pivots downwardly to return the cut end of the stay paper to the stay paper applying station, said cutting means being positioned on the body framework adjacent the stay material applying stations in the direction of feed of the box blank through the machine and being arranged not to act on the stay paper until after the blank has passed out from said stay material applying station, said severing means including a pivotally mounted blade positioned immediately above the stay material securing stations so that it can be swung underneath a box which has been fed up beyond said securing station to cut the stay paper secured on the corner of the box from the remainder.

11. A box making machine according to claim 10 wherein the said feeding means comprises a piston arranged to move up through the machine.

12. A box making machine according to claim 11 wherein a second piston is provided, arranged to move up under the first piston and to then act as a support at the corners of the box blank during the application of stay material thereto.

13. A box making machine according to claim 12 in which the lower second piston is carried by a tube which acts as a guide for a rod carrying the upper first piston.

14. A box making machine according to claim 12 in which a breaker is provided to bend the side and end flaps of a box blank down under the upper first piston before the lower second piston has moved up under said first piston within the bent down flaps.

15. A box making machine according to claim 1 in which the means for returning the cut end of the stay paper to the stay paper applying station comprises a roller engaging the upper surface of the stay paper, said roller being carried at one end of a pivotally mounted arm, the downward movement of said roller, when the stay paper has been cut, being limited to return the cut end of the stay paper to the stay paper applying station.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 842,290 Wrigley et al. J an. 29, 1907 1,131,132 Hilbert Mar. 9, 1915 1,915,976 Brodsky June 27, 1933 2,846,929 Hickin Aug. 12, 1958 2,849,933 Von Hofe Sept. 2, 1958 2,970,527 Fisher Feb. 7.. 1961 

